The Scars that bind Us
by Tutankhamunfreak
Summary: Toph wants to know why their new 'friend' is so jumpy around Zuko. She's not sure she likes the answers.


Toph could sense that something was bothering their new arrival. It had been three days since Sokka and Sparky had set off to rescue Sokka's Dad, returning the day before with two extra prisoners more than expected. Sure, she could understand bringing them along- they needed all the help they could get, especially from Suki and her Kyoshi warriors if they were as good as she had heard. Even the great big fire bender was more help than they would want to admit, considering they needed all the support they could get from local members of the Fire Nation. But Toph could sense that he was not all that comfortable within the group as he let on, especially not around Zuko.

At first, she had thought that that was because Sparky was technically his Crown Prince, that he was in line for the throne and had been star struck by literally running into royalty. However, after close examination, she could tell that it wasn't admiration that was making the man act oddly, but something else. Something darker and more worrying than mere admiration for a line that had near single-handedly conquered most of the known world. After everything Azula had done to them, Toph wouldn't be surprised if Zuko had some secret ability buried up his sleeves somewhere, or at least the potential to be as brilliant as his prodigy little sister. Perhaps it was wariness that she could sense- it was understandable for someone outside of their group to be testy around someone as powerful as Zuko was capable to be.

It wasn't until now though that she had figured out that emotion. It wasn't admiration or envy or fear or even a slight wariness in his tread around Sparky. No, this was something entirely different. Chit Sang was less fearful than uncertain of what to do with himself. He was upset and seemed to feel awkward around the prince, like there was something sensitive he wanted to talk to the boy about but wasn't sure how exactly to put it across. So instead, Toph decided to do the hard work for him. After all, the man might know some juicy secrets that Sparky was hiding. When he had joined the group, Toph had heard plenty of stories about the guy, but none of the others could answer her questions. Why had he come to help them? What had made him so intent on hunting down Aang (all Katara had done on that one was mutter about his stupid _honour,_ like it was unimportant to the Fire Nation)? But most of all, Toph had a burning curiosity to know about the scar that adorned the other boy's face, the one she had heard rumours and tales of even in her family's mansion back home in Gaoling.

"Hey big guy!" Toph said as she stomped up to him. Despite being as loud and obtrusive as she could possibly be, the man still jumped. It was funny how she could scare the daylights out of a man practically triple her size and capable of taking on Fire Nation prison guards.

"Hello there Toph," he said. For a guy from a prison he was suspiciously well spoken and he moved more like Hakoda, like a trained soldier, than he did like a normal person. She suspected that perhaps that had something to do with his internment in the Boiling Rock prison, which sounded much like Lake Laogi- the place you were sent when you were never to be seen or heard from again. "What can I do for you?"

"You're hiding something from us," she said bluntly. "I want to know what." Chit Sang stiffened, as if trying to think of some way out of this.

"I would rather not share with someone as young as yourself," he said delicately and Toph frowned. She was not some fragile flower that would fall over at the first obstacle and she would prove it.

"You and Sparky are both hiding something and if you won't tell me I'll find someone who can. After all, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will willingly tell the daughter of a merchant everything she wishes to know," Toph said, crossing her arms. "And as for being too young, I'm the greatest earthbender in the world. I'm not too young for anything!"

"I wouldn't say anything little miss," Chit Sang said gravely. "It's better that some things are not spoken of."

"Like what?" Everything he said just made her all the more curious but Chit Sang was shaking his head.

"I know all about your intense curiosity and what you'll want to know. I could tell you, it was part of the reason I was locked away in that prison, but it would scare even you," he said, sounding sad. "The only person I wish to speak of such things with is Prince Zuko." Toph huffed but could feel the determination in every movement he made, so she decided to change tactics.

"Ok fine. I'll make you a deal. I'll get Sparky alone with you so you can discuss whatever it is that you want, and you can answer my questions." Toph could feel Chit Sang thinking on that in his head before he sighed and nodded.

"I will agree on one condition. Ask about anything but the scar." Toph scowled but knew that this was the closest she would ever come to finding out about their companion.

"Deal." She held out a hand to shake and there was a quiet rumbling laugh from somewhere above her as Chit Sang took the proffered hand and shook it.

"Fire away then."

"Where's the Fire Lady?" Toph jumped in at once. No one had ever spoken of Ozai's wife, but she had to exist in some capacity, otherwise neither Zuko nor Azula would be legitimate heirs. It worked that way in all nations, not just the Earth Kingdom. Chit Sang seemed taken aback by her bluntness but answered anyway.

"There is no Fire Lady. Princess Ursa disappeared the night Fire Lord Azulon passed away five years ago." Toph frowned at that.

"Wait, are you telling me that Ozai's only been in power for five years? Who the heck is Fire Lord Azulon?" she asked, now more confused. Chit Sang didn't seem to mind, merely explained.

"Fire Lord Azulon is Prince Zuko's grandfather. He was Prince Iroh and Prince Ozai's father and named his youngest son as heir to the throne on his deathbed." There was a pause as Chit Sang contemplated on that. "I was on duty that day in the funeral and crowning ceremony. I don't believe I've ever seen anyone look so scared in my life."

"Ozai was scared of being Fire Lord?" Somehow Toph couldn't picture it. Chit Sang shook his head.

"No. Prince Zuko. He became Crown Prince after being fourth in line to the throne practically overnight. It would have been quite a change for him, especially with his grandfather and cousin dead, his uncle missing and mother gone. That night has been quiet a mystery even to the people here in the Fire Nation." Toph was silent as she took that in. She supposed that it would be hard, for someone who was so far away from the throne to have ever thought that one day they would have the opportunity to sit in it and then be thrust into a position wholly unwanted. She also knew about Prince Lu Ten's death- it was one of the first lessons she had learnt about the Siege of Ba Sing Se and how they had driven the Dragon of the West back- but she hadn't really put two and two together to realise that he was Zuko's cousin as well and probably grew up in the same palace as Zuko when they were children. Suddenly, everything seemed a lot different to before.

"Ok," Toph said slowly, thinking carefully on what Chit Sang had said. It made sense now why Zuko refused to speak about his life in the capital- for so many life-shattering things to have happened in one day no less, they were lucky that he was still functioning as he was. She also got the feeling that that wasn't the whole story. After all, loss and retreat were two completely different things, and Toph had a sneaky suspicion that General Iroh had retreated after his son's death rather than was beaten back (those dunderheads at the Walls of Ba Sing Se could barely handle Azula alone without their help, let alone the famed Dragon of the West with a whole army behind him). "So I take it you were a guard in the palace." Chit Sang laughed and Toph sensed him shaking his head.

"No, I was lucky enough to only be given the post once, for an event that I wish I had never seen. That was before I was locked up for speaking out against…" For a moment Chit Sang paused as if trying to think his way around something, probably the whole issue of the scar. Toph had a bad feeling about that now, coupled with the new information she had on where, or rather where Zuko's mother was _not_. "Certain actions," he finished before continuing. "I used to belong to the Home Guard, those you would have fought when you landed on Caldera City's waterfront. Unfortunately for me I was too good at my job and was drafted in along with three others."

"For the event involving Zuko and his nice new scar," Toph ventured, knowing that she was pressing into territory that she wasn't supposed to be. But she stopped there, having an idea that that knowledge she should only learn from Zuko, although she felt that perhaps she could guess. Important events with new guards drafted in only to be instantly imprisoned when speaking of the events that they had witnessed… it reeked of a plot as complicated and ruthless as any of Long Feng's except Long Feng, she was fairly sure, had never been involved in burning people's skin off.

Chit Sang made a disapproving sound. "We had a deal," he warned and Toph nodded.

"You're right we had a deal. Give me five minutes to find Sparky and the pair of you can talk to your heart's content." In the meantime, she was going to find Sokka, tell him what she knew and ask him to help her bully Katara into backing off for a while, or maybe even forever. Zuko was not going to trust them with his past, or any information on the Fire Lord, with Katara breathing down his neck like a panther-lion. And he certainly wasn't going to divulge the secret of who and how he had gotten that scar.

That didn't stop Toph being able to guess, what with the knowledge that no one had been punished for harming the heir to the Fire Nation throne. And quite honestly, she would rather much forget. After all, even her own family, strict as they were, had never considered harming her as a viable option. Fire Lord Ozai on the other hand… well, Toph didn't think she would like anything that he considered as good parenting skills. For a moment, she paused, contemplating that as she felt Hakoda sparring with Sokka over in the training grounds, Katara humming away as she washed the dirty bowls from breakfast with Suki and there, off in the distance but still close enough that Katara's prickly gaze could catch, Aang and Zuko himself, hard at work with firebending practice. Toph had sworn off going near flames after that first painful brush with them, but Zuko had promised one night, in the dark when the others were all asleep, that he would never let anyone hurt her again. Toph had wondered at the time why he had sounded so sad. Now she found herself wondering if he had ever made that promise to anyone before, a promise that he could no longer keep.

 _Uncle would have loved you for a niece_ … Toph was certain Sparky had thought she was asleep for that, which, after that uncomfortable exchange with Chit Sang led to further implications that she didn't want to think about. Implications that had far wider reaches than merely 'I want to help you end this war.' Because this was his family they were going after and yet none of them had asked how he felt, knowing that no matter what Aang decided, he would have to see the deaths of both his father and his sister? And with that terrible thought looming over her, Toph made the abrupt decision to bring that up with Sokka and maybe even Hakoda too. Maybe being around one functional father figure had to count for something right?

And so, mind made up, Toph plastered her usual grin on her and face stomped towards Sparky, an idea worming its way into her mind. If only she could find Uncle then maybe they would really be in business…

* * *

 **Ok, so this is a one shot and was a little headcanon I've had for a while. Since we are never told why Chit Sang was in the Boiling Rock prison and he doesn't appear to be portrayed as someone with er... less desirable tendencies, there are only so many reasons why he may have ended up there, so I decided for a guard sent there for speaking out against Zuko's banishment. After all, not even Zuko's own crew knew what had happened to him and they were literally sent off with him for his banishment. Also, Chit Sang literally disappears after the Boiling Rock episodes, so wasted opportunity there guys.**

 **The other thing that I couldn't express fully is how horrific the end of Avatar really is for Zuko. I know that at the end Ozai has no bending, but I can't see the rest of the nations being happy about him still being alive even in prison- heck, some people even still want him on the throne in the Fire Nation! So in the realistic world, for his crimes, he would more than likely have been sentenced to death in a trial and also Azula considering she tried to kill the Avatar and succeeded for a brief few moments. That's actually... awful for Zuko, because Aang would have left him with that choice while he got to fly off and carry on being happy-go-lucky Air Nomad and Zuko will be an orphan. Which is something that none of the GAang seem to have considered in the TV show even without this knowledge. Sokka even decapitates the 'Melon' Lord right in front of Zuko while trying to show Aang how to literally KILL his father (yes, I know Zuko knew this was a possibility but considering how affected he has been by Ozai throughout the series and the fact that he still cares for Azula, it's not much of a stretch to think that some small part of Zuko still cares about Ozai but knows that he will have to die anyway). So, yeah, that was a depressing thought that was never brought up in the show or comics because apparently trials and things didn't occur and they focused on different things which is fair. It was a children's show even if it is epic ;)**

 **Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this fic and are not put down too much by the dire thoughts at the end.**


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